Pocket case



Sept- 1, 1931. H. vAsTlcAR 1,820,926

POCKET CASE Filed Nov. 19, 1929 Patented Sept. 1, 1931 I UNITED STATES PATENT oFF-ICE HENRI VASVTICAR, OFPARIS, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR TO SCHWOB-FRERES & CIE. S. A.,

QF LA CHAUX- DE-FONDS, SWITZERLAND, A COMPANY F SWITZERLAND POCKET CASE Application filed November 19, 1929, Serial No. 408,197, and in Belgium December 20, 1928.

The present invention has for its object a pocket case destined to contain and protect a watch or other analogous object and-adapted also serve as a match box or cigarette case,

' y or the like.

Said case comprises a body with bottom and side walls with a hinged cover pivoted near one end of said side walls, andA the most important feature of the invention is the 10 provision of a rigid,"downwardly extending projection from the pivoted end of said cover which, when the cover is in closed position, serves as a closure for the otherwise open end of the casing as well as a means for swinging the cover open when external pressure is applied to said projection, and the association, with said cover and projection therefrom of a spring or other elastic member normally tending to close the cover. This produces a very simple, durable, cheap, normally closed but easily opened form of box or casing for holding a watch, or other article desired to be alternately exposed to view, or concealed and protected.

My invention will be well understood from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, given by way of example in which- Fig. l is a longitudinal section through the case in closed position;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. l with the case in open position;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section thereof; and

Fig. 5 is a modification showing a case with two covers or shutters in longitudinal section.

As shown in the drawings the case or box a (in the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. l to 4) has an opening which extends over almost the Whole upper face thereof and is prolonged at b1 along the end of the box and it is the recess within said opening which .is destined to receive the watch, cigarettes, or the like.

The opening I) is closed by a cover or shutter e which is formed by the long arm of a lover pivoted at d to the upper portions of the side walls of the body of the case a near one end thereof. The shorter arm 01 of said lever is preferably bent over in a way to form a bead of semicircular cross-section which forms the wall or closure of that end of the case when the cover is in closed position as shown in section in Fig. l.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that for opening the case, i-t suflices to bear lightly on the bead 01 in order to depress the same into the body of the box which causes the cover or shutter c to swing outwardly and open the case. Yielding pressure means of any suitable character are provided for normally holding said cover in closed position.

As here shown a leaf spring e is fastened on the bottom of the body of the box in such a way that its extremity bears against the turned up portion c2 which forms an exten- .f-ion of the bead c1 on the shorter arm of the lever. Said spring maintains by its ilexibility the lever arm or cover c in closed posi- '[0 tion (Fig. l) and returns it to this-position as soon as the exterior pressure which was applied to said bead when opening the case is removed. I may provide a disposition of the spring such that it also maintains the cover in side open position (Fig. 3). For this it is merely necessary to provide the bead with two fiat portions or less curved portions extending at an angle of O to each other.

lVhen the case a is to enclose a watch f, s as shown in dot and dash lines in Figs. l and 3, the said watch may be mounted on hinges at one extremity, as at g, on the bottom of the case. The watch is then maintained at its other extremity by a small finger L engaging in the hole l of a leaf spring z'.

A coil spring j secured at one end to the bottom of the case and at the other end to the upper edge of the hingedly mounted watch, raises the said watch into the position f1 of Figure 3 when the linger L is released by pulling away the spring z'. In this position the watch bears along the upper face thereof against the chamber al provided onV the edge of opening b of the case and the lower part of the bead c1 is adapted to become lodged in the curved part of the spring v1 which maintains the lever or cover c in open position, in a way that the whole performs 

